Very rarely does a comic book come along these
days that genuinely impresses me. I mean genuinely impresses me. You get a lot put out by the bigger
companies that have impressive moments, but moments
aside, the comics themselves are not necessarily
completely enthralling. In a world where Civil
Wars, Infinite Crisis' and licensed titles
dominate the comic sales charts and advertising
spaces, it's all too easy to allow some
of the best comics you ever read become some of
the best comics you'll never read. Especially
here in Australia, where shops really only carry
what they know they'll sell. This is why
I am telling you right now, get Umbra.

If it weren't for the fact that I've
been a reader of Mirage's Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles (the gritty, black
and white, real TMNT) pretty much since I could
read, I would probably be in the same boat. I
first came across Umbra while
reading up on some of my favourite writers, one
of those being Steve Murphy. Steve Murphy, the
leading writer for the most recent volume of Tales
of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (one
of the most underrated titles currently on the
comic stands) is also the man who wrote Umbra,
with this being (as far as I know at least) his
first foray into ongoing comic books outside of
Mirage Studios and Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles, and trust me, you couldn't
get further away from four mutant turtles than
this.

Umbra is a three issue miniseries
published by Image. Written by Murphy with artist
Michael Hawthorne (Hysteria, Machine Teen, Queen and
Country, Tales of the Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles) taking up duties
as penciller and inker, it presents the reader
with Askja Thorasdottir, a young forensic technician
with an apparent drinking habit and a reliance
on Ativan (an anxiety drug, relieves those prone
to panic attacks, calms schizophrenics and is
also taken by alcoholics to prevent symptoms associated
with sudden alcohol withdrawal). After the discovery
of an extraordinarily well preserved Neanderthal
body in a cave in the Icelandic wilderness, Askja
makes a series of bizarre discoveries that throws
the whole case into an entirely new light. The
fleece the body wore bears a corporate tag (along
with hairs from a Woolly Mammoth), a tooth from
the Neanderthal skull has a porcelain filling,
and to make things even more baffling, evidence
points to the seemingly impossibly fact that the
Neanderthal was shot in the back by someone in
the Soviet military! Things get even stranger
when Askja is accosted by a small group of Great
Auks (a species of penguins that became extinct
in the mid 1800's - which she also dreamt
about the night before) moments before witnessing
the catastrophic destruction of the forensics
lab.

There's a huge amount happening in this
issue, aside from what was mentioned above, but
at no point does it ever feel as though Murphy
has bitten off more than he can chew. The events
so far have been expertly woven and do what every
comic should be doing these days, leaving the
reader desperate for more, which is a true testament
to the writing (Michael Hawthorne's artwork
is also fantastic, but more on this a little later).
Murphy also manages to incorporate a number of
important traits to his leading characters, the
most obvious being Askja herself, without having
them get in the way of the character or become
more of a talking point than the story they've
been incorporated into. Askja is a hard working,
hard drinking, chain-smoking lesbian with a possible
addiction to drugs for an anxiety disorder. If
this had've been a Marvel or DC book, we
wouldn't be hearing about the story, we'd
be hearing all about how the main character is
an alcoholic lesbian with a drug problem, and
the skewed publicity would likely impede the book.
Look at what happened with Marvel's Rawhide
Kid and more recently DC's new Batwoman. Thankfully, all these
characteristics of Askja are played out in such
a way that they never draw unnecessary or excessive
attention to themselves, helping form a character
who's traits are just another part of their
lifestyle. Sure, there are moments here and there
that dive into these traits (that includes the
lesbianism guys), but they never feel gratuitous
or forced, and are clearly building to something
bigger further down the road (particularly Askja's
dependency on Ativan and her interactions with
her superiors).

It's also very clear that Murphy has put
a lot of research into Umbra.
Everything from the patronymic names (dottir is
meaning daughter in Icelandic, which is added
to the name of one's daughter's name
by law and tradition, eg: say I have a daughter
named Jessica – in Iceland, she would be
called Jessica Tristansdottir… or something
along those lines), to the forensic clues uncovered
with the body, all have solid, factual groundings.
Even smaller things that would normally be overlooked,
such as alcohol, the Ativan, and locations are
all firmly based in reality, which helps the reader
completely buy into everything unfolding, as unlikely
as it may seem. It's also worth pointing
out that Umbra isn't an Icelandic term or
name, it's actually the name given to the
darkest part of a shadow, so before even reading
there's a hidden, sinister quality to the
book.

Michael Hawthorne's artwork perfectly suits
the unravelling story. The character designs are
very clean cut and simple, but not so much that
it takes away at all from the characters or story.
Your eyes are given enough information to easily
establish characters, locations, moods and emotions
(Askja particularly) without getting lost in sketchy
or overly abundant details (as so many comics
fall into habit of doing these days), and the
whole thing manages to convey a total sense of
realism in spite of the simplicity. Hawthorne's
mastery of perspectives, angles and lighting truly
stands out too. A lot of artists (it may also
have something to do with the writers) tend to
use similar angles throughout their books, without
too much deviation, and while the art and the
comic itself may be great, it really makes books
such as Umbra (another good example
being Frank Miller's Sin City)
stand out. I'm also a big fan of these noir-ish
elements in comic books (again, things like Sin
City and the works of Eduardo Risso and
Mike Mignolo), so I know these particular visuals
have an audience all of their own too.

The artwork is the only thing I can see as being
a real problem for anyone. That problem is simply
the fact that some people can't come at
black and white art in comics. It's fair
enough, and really a matter of personal tastes,
but to not at least give this book a look in for
that reason alone would deny you of a fantastic
read. Others may have a problem with the $5.99
U.S. (roughly $8 Australian) price tag, but we
are talking an independent book that's comes
in at 48 pages of fantastic story (no adds either),
with a few pages of extras courtesy of Mr. Hawthorne
at the end. So it's a pretty fair deal when
you consider your average comic sits at the $3
U.S. mark.

So far we've stuck mainly to reviewing
collections or complete arcs, but the stories
we've covered so far have been pretty accessible
to just about everyone. I have not seen Umbra on the shelves at any of the Melbourne comic stores,
which is a true shame (but justifiable from a
business point of view), as it really is one of
the best comic books I've read in a very
long time. If you like a really good mystery,
if you're a fan of shows like The
X-Files (we're talking ol'
school X-Files here, not the monster it eventually
became) or comics like Fell,
or just want something different to read, go down
to your local comic shop and order Umbra.
The first issue came out last Thursday here in
Australia (Wednesday in the U.S.), and Diamond
Distribution usually has about a two month timeframe
for ordering in recent comics, so hit up your
local as soon as you can, otherwise you'll
have to trawl through the online retailers to
get a copy.

Issue two comes out next month, with the final
part seeing release in August, and judging by
the previews for the following parts, this series
is only going up. Seriously - don't miss
out.

Originally born unto this world as Terror Australis.net back in March 2002, Digital Retribution is a proudly Australian website devoted to all things horror, cult, and exploitation that strives to promote Australian films and filmmakers while sharing its questionable taste in ultra-violent smut-laden local and international offerings with the rest of the world.